Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, is only about an hour from Vienna, so we drove there and back rather than staying overnight.
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| This is a view of Bratislava (the castle is white with a red roof) from the freeway. The population is 460, 000, but it has a "small-town" feel -- |
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| especially in the old part of town. |
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"Old Town Hall" ("Stará radnica") is definitely "old." The tower was built in 1370.
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We happened upon a group that was playing some traditional music -- using some unusual instruments.
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| Recently (1997), however, several amusing bronze sculptures have been added to "Town Square" (Hlavné námestie). The most popular is "Čumil," a mischievous sewer worker peeking out of a manhole. |
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The "planned" highlight of the trip was the Lipizzaner show. (We bought our tickets a month in advance.) They don't allow photography of the actual show, but if you're unfamiliar with Lipizzaners, I would suggest:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vY3wmWT-sb8
That video is a traveling performance in America (that we have attended), but it's just not the same as being in this arena at the Hofburg Palace that was built specifically for this purpose in 1735. We sat near the corner of the balcony and I took this picture before the performance. |
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| I took this picture from the ground floor after the performance. |
